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In French as in English, an adverb describes the action of a verb. It answers such questions as 'where', 'when,' 'how,' 'how long,' or 'how often.' Adverbs are invariable (they don’t change endings) and may be used with almost all verbs. For example:
An adverb may also qualify an adjective or another adverb. Consider the sentence: 'Edouard cuisine très bien' (Edouard cooks very well). Très qualifies bien and both describe the action of the verb 'cuisiner'.
manner
bien, well
mal , badly
vite, quickly
souvent, often
quelquefois, sometimes
jamais, never
tôt , early
tard, late
bientôt, soon
aujourd'hui , today
hier, yesterday
maintenant, now
déjà, already
demain, tomorrow
place
dedans, inside
dehors, outside
ici , here
là, there
partout, everywhere
quelque part, somewhere
quantity or degree
beaucoup, a lot
très, very
trop, too much
assez, enough
peu, little, not much
peut-être, maybe
sequence
d'abord, at first
puis, then, next
alors, then, so
donc, thus
enfin, finally
formation of regular adverbs
formation of regular adverbs
A large number of French adverbs are derived from adjectives.
They are usually formed by adding -ment to the feminine singular form of the adjective.
Note the exception 'gentiment', which is derived from the adjective 'gentil' (nice).
lentement, slowly
doucement, softly
heureusement, happily, fortunately
franchement, frankly
lent(e), slow
doux (douce), soft
heureux (heureuse), happy
franc (franche), frank
However, -ment is added to the masculine singular form of adjectives that end with a vowel. Note the exception 'gaiement' which is derived from the adjective 'gai' (cheerful).
poli(e), polite
absolu(e), absolute
vrai(e), true, real
modéré(e), moderate
poliment, politely
absolument, absolutely
vraiment, truly, really
modéré ment, moderately
Add -emment to the stem of adjectives that end in -ent; add -amment to the stem of adjectives ending in -ant. The stem is what remains of the adjective when -ent or -ant have been removed. Note that the one-syllable adjective 'lent' does not form its adverb, 'lentement', on this model.
récent, recent
fréquent, frequent
suffisant, sufficient
méchant, wicked, malicious
récemment, recently
fréquemment, frequently
suffisamment, sufficiently
méchamment, wickedly, nastily
Note the addition of an acute accent to form the following adverbs:
précis(e), precise
profond(e), deep
énorme, huge, enormous
précisément, precisely
profondément, deeply
énormément, enormously
placement
placement
Use the following guidelines for placement of adverbs.
adverbs that modify an adjective or another adverb
adverbs that modify an adjective or another adverb
Adverbs are placed directly before the adjective or adverb that they modify.
adverbs that modify a verb
adverbs that modify a verb
Adverbs are usually placed immediately after the conjugated verb.
If the verb is negative, the adverb is placed after the negation.
Sasha comprend mal l’espagnol, mais elle parle bien le français.
Tameeka conduit lentement; elle veut se garer (park) près de Grant Hall.
Winston et Sara aiment beaucoup leur cours de biologie.
Note that most common adverbs are placed directly after the verb before the objects.
adverbs that modify a whole sentence
adverbs that modify a whole sentence
If an adverb is a comment on the entire sentence (malheureusement, en plus), it may be placed at the beginning or end of the sentence. Adverbs of this type include adverbs of time and place. In the following dialogue, contrast the adverbs that modify the whole sentence to those that modify just the verb.
See placement of adverbs with passé composé and the futur proche for further examples.
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